The Bear goes into hibernation as Corus shuts rock radio station down

Local radio station 106.9 FM The Bear is changing formats, the station’s owners announced on Thursday.

(Stock image)

The move comes a little over a month after Corus Entertainment purchased the rock station for $10 million. Its former owner, BCE subsidiary Bell Media, had been ordered to sell the station by the CRTC after it acquired Astral Media.

The Bear, officially known as CKQB FM, had a 3.8-per cent market share during the fall ratings period, according to audience measurement firm BBM Canada. That made it the 10th most popular radio station in the city among anglophone listeners.

While the station’s market share – which expresses the amount of time consumers spent listening to one radio station when compared to the total number of hours spent listening to all radio – is up from 3.5 per cent two years ago, actual listener numbers dropped during the same time period. They reached their lowest level in the fall, the most recent period for which data is available.

Corus did not provide any more details about what the new station will sound like, other than to say they will be taking it in “a new direction.”

Corus owns several stations, including in London, Hamilton and Winnipeg, that operate under the Fresh FM banner. Those stations use a “hot adult contemporary” sound that plays a mix of current hits and songs that go back to the 90s.